Map of the disputed islands of the Kuril chain. Whose will the Kuril Islands be? Population of the Kuril Islands

History of the Kuril Islands

The narrow strait separating Kunashir from Hokkaido is called the Strait of Izmena in Russian. The Japanese have their own opinion on this matter.

The Kuril Islands got their name from the people who inhabited them. “Kuru” in the language of these people meant “man,” the Cossacks called them “Kurils” or “Kurilians,” and they called themselves “Ainu,” which in meaning was not much different from “Kuru.” The culture of the Kurils, or Ainu, has been traced by archaeologists for at least 7,000 years. They lived not only on the Kuril Islands, which were called “Kuru-misi”, that is, “land of people”, but also on the island of Hokkaido (“Ainu-moshiri”), and in the southern part of Sakhalin. In their appearance, language and customs, they differed significantly from both the Japanese in the south and the Kamchadals in the north.


A non-Mongoloid type of face, thick hair, a thick beard, pronounced vegetation all over the body - ethnographers searched for the ancestral home of the Ainu in both the Caucasus and Australia. In accordance with one of the latest hypotheses, the Ainu, who have lived on their islands for centuries, represent a “splinter” of a special, ancient race.


The Cossacks called them “shaggy”, and this nickname was used even in official Russian papers. One of the first explorers of Kamchatka, Stepan Krasheninnikov, wrote about the Kurils: “They are incomparably more polite than other peoples: and at the same time they are constant, just-hearted, ambitious and meek. They speak quietly without interrupting each other’s speeches... Old people are held in great reverence...”


In the XVII - 19th centuries The Japanese had a different name for the island of Hokkaido - Ezo. In the old days, the term “edzo” meant the “northern savages” who obey no one. Gradually, Ezo in Japan began to mean all the lands north of the island. Hondo (Honshu), including Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The Russians called Hokkaido Matsmai, since in its southwestern part there was a city of the same name, built by the samurai Matsumae clan.


One of the first expeditions to the lands of Ezo was undertaken by the Japanese in 1635. Presumably, a certain Kinfiro, a translator from Ainu who served with the feudal lords of Matsumae, took part in it. Whether Kinfiro managed to get to Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands or received information about them from the Ainu is not known for certain, however, based on the results of his journey in 1644, a map was drawn up on which, although conditionally, Karafuto (Sakhalin) and Tsisimi - “a thousand islands” were designated " - that's what the Japanese called the Kuril Islands. Almost at the same time, in 1643, the Southern Kuriles region was explored by the Dutch expedition of Maarten Fries, who was searching for mythical countries rich in gold and silver. The Dutch not only compiled good maps, but also described the lands they discovered (the journal of senior navigator Cornelius Kuhn was preserved and published), among which it is easy to recognize Iturup, Kunashir, and other islands of the South Kuril Islands.



In Russia, the first information about the Kuril Islands appeared in the reports of Vladimir Atlasov, who made the famous campaign against Kamchatka in 1697. But the first descriptions of the islands were compiled not by him, but by the Cossack Ivan Kozyrevsky, who, by a sad irony of fate, participated in the murder of Atlasov. To beg for forgiveness, Kozyrevsky went to the Kuril Islands in 1711, but visited only the first two islands - Shumshu and Paramushir, where he questioned in detail the “shaggy” people who lived there. He supplemented his report with information received from the Japanese, who were brought to Kamchatka during a storm in 1710.


In 1719, Peter I sent two surveyors to Kamchatka - Ivan Evreinov and Fyodor Luzhin. Officially, to find out whether America and Asia have come together. However, the content of the secret instructions they had was obviously different, since the surveyors, contrary to expectation, directed their ship not to the north, but to the south - to the Kuril Islands and Japan. They managed to pass only half of the ridge: near the island of Simushir the ship lost its anchor and was thrown back to Kamchatka by the winds. In 1722, Evreinov personally presented Peter with a report on the expedition and a map of the islands examined.



In 1738-1739, Martyn Shpanberg, a member of the Bering expedition, walked south along the entire Kuril ridge and mapped the islands he encountered. Spanberg's ship rounded Matsmai and anchored off the coast of Hondo - here the first meeting in history between the Russians and the Japanese took place. She was quite friendly, although not without mutual wariness. Avoiding risky voyages to the Southern Kuril Islands, the Russians developed the islands closest to Kamchatka, subjugating the “furry ones” and demanding yasak (fur tax) from them in sea otter skins. Many did not want to pay yasak and went to distant islands. To keep the Kurils, the Cossacks took amanats (hostages) from among their children and relatives.


In 1766, at the direction of the Siberian governor, the toyon (leader) from the island of Paramushir, Nikita Chikin, and the centurion from Kamchatka, Ivan Cherny, were sent to the southern Kuril Islands. They had to “persuade the Kurils into citizenship, without showing, not only deeds, but also a sign of rude actions and bitterness, but greetings and affection.” Chikin himself was one of the “shaggy” ones and easily found a common language with his fellow tribesmen, but, unfortunately, he died suddenly on Simushir and Black stood at the head of the party. The centurion walked to the 19th island (Iturup), along the way, by force bringing the “shaggy” ones into citizenship. From them he learned that the Japanese had a fortress on the 20th (Kunashir). During the winter on the 18th island (Urupa), Cherny drank, poached and mocked both his companions - the Cossacks and the “shaggy ones”. On the way back, the centurion took with him the “descended” (runaway) Kurilians, and kept them tied up on the ship, which is why many died. Cherny’s “exploits” did not go unnoticed; he came under investigation, but died in Irkutsk from smallpox. Embittered by the actions of Cherny and other merchants, the “shaggy” rebelled in 1771 and killed many Russians on the islands of Chirpoy and Urup.



In 1778, the Siberian nobleman Antipin, familiar with the Japanese language, was sent to the Southern Kuril Islands. At Urup he was joined by the Irkutsk townsman and translator Shabalin. The instructions given by the head of Kamchatka, Matvey Bem, ordered “to establish peaceful communication with the Japanese and the shaggy ones,” and “under death penalty do not offend the wild, as happened on Aleutian Islands...". Antipin and Shabalin managed to win the sympathy and favor of the “shaggy” ones, and in 1778-1779 more than 1,500 Kurils from Iturup, Kunashir and Matsmay were brought into Russian citizenship. Contacts with the Japanese were unsuccessful. Strictly adhering to the state policy of self-isolation, Japanese officials conveyed to Antipin a ban not only from trading on Matsmai, but also from going to Iturup and Kunashir. The expedition of Antipin and Shabalin was not continued: in 1780, their ship, anchored off the island of Urup, the strongest tsunami was thrown onto land at a distance of 400 meters from the shore! With great difficulties, the sailors managed to return to Kamchatka using kayaks...


In 1779, by her decree, Catherine II freed the Kuril residents who had accepted Russian citizenship from all taxes. The “Long Land Description of the Russian State...” published in 1787 by order of the Empress contains a list of Kuril Islands, “of which 21 are now considered under Russian possession...”. The 21st island was Shikotan, and about the 22nd, Matsmai, it was said that the Japanese have a city on its southern side, but how far their possession extends in the northern side of Matsmai is unknown.


Meanwhile, the Russians had no real control over the islands located south of the 18th (Urupa). In the report of the navigator Lovtsov, who visited Matsmai in 1794, it was reported: “The Kurilians, who live on the 22nd, as well as on the 19th, 20th and 21st islands, are revered by the Japanese as their subjects and are used by them in grave ways.” work... And from this it is noticeable that all the Kuril residents are extremely dissatisfied with the Japanese... In May 1788, one Japanese merchant ship came to Matsmai. The Kuriles attacked the ship. All 75 Japanese were killed, and the goods were taken and divided. An official was sent from Matsmaya and executed 35 people...”


In 1799, by order of the central government of Japan, two principalities founded outposts on Kunashir and Iturup, and since 1804, the protection of these islands was carried out constantly.



An attempt to resume negotiations with the Japanese on trade was made in 1805, when the founder of the Russian-American Company (RAC), actual state councilor Nikolai Rezanov, arrived in Nagasaki - the only port in Japan where foreign ships were allowed to enter. However, his audience with the governor was a failure. The acts handed over by the Japanese side finally formulated the refusal of trade relations with Russia. As for the Russian ships, they were asked not to stop at anchor and rather depart from the Japanese shores. Offended by the refusal, Rezanov made it clear to Japanese officials that the Russian emperor had ways to teach him to treat him with respect. In his report to the king, he also reported that the Japanese nobles, suffering from the despotism of the spiritual ruler "dairi", hinted to him, Rezanov, that the Japanese should be "moved" from the north and remove some industry - this would supposedly give the Japanese government a reason to establish trade relations with Russia... Rezanov instructed Lieutenant Khvostov and Midshipman Davydov to carry out this “hint”, forming an expedition of two ships.


In 1806, Khvostov expelled the Japanese from Sakhalin, destroying all trading posts in Aniva Bay. In 1807, he burned down a Japanese village on Iturup, and distributed goods from the stores to the Kurils. On Matsmai, Khvostov captured and plundered 4 Japanese ships, after which he left the Matsmai governor a paper with the following content: “The Russians, having now caused such little harm to the Japanese empire, wanted to show them only through ... that further stubbornness of the Japanese government could completely deprive him of these lands "


Believing that Khvostov's pirate raids were sanctioned by the Russian government, the Japanese prepared to retaliate. That is why the completely peaceful appearance of Captain Vasily Golovnin in Kunashir in 1811 ended with his capture and imprisonment for more than 2 years. Only after official government papers were delivered to the Matsmai governor of Okhotsk, which stated that “Khvostov and Davydov were tried, found guilty, punished and are no longer alive,” Golovnin and his friends received freedom.


After the release of Golovnin, the Irkutsk governor forbade Russian ships and canoes to sail further than the 18th island (Urupa), on which a colony of the Russian-American Company had existed since 1795. In fact, by the middle of the 19th century, the strait between Urup and Iturup began to serve as a border between states, which was recorded in the treaty of 1855, signed by Admiral Putyatin in the Japanese city of Shimoda. In a secret instruction to Putyatin, endorsed by Nicholas I, it was written unambiguously: “Of the Kuril Islands, the southernmost, which belongs to Russia, is the island of Urup, to which we could limit ourselves...”.


The 1855 treaty left the status of Sakhalin uncertain, and in 1875 a new treaty was signed in St. Petersburg, according to which Japan renounced its rights to Sakhalin, receiving in return all the Kuril Islands up to Kamchatka itself. The Ainu from Sakhalin did not take Russian citizenship and moved to Hokkaido. The Ainu of the northern Kuril Islands decided to stay on their islands, especially since the RAC, to which they were in virtual slavery, ceased its activities in 1867. Having accepted Japanese citizenship, they retained Russian surnames and the Orthodox faith. In 1884, the Japanese government resettled all the Northern Kuril Ainu (there were no more than 100 of them) to Shikotan, forcibly transforming them from fishermen and hunters into farmers and cattle breeders. At that time, the population of the Southern Kuril Islands, concentrated mainly in Iturup and Kunashir, was about 3,000 people, of which 3/4 were Japanese.


After Russia's defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, an agreement was signed in Portsmouth in 1905, according to which the southern part of Sakhalin (below the 50th parallel) also ceded to Japan. In 1920, Japan occupied and northern part Sakhalin, where intensive oil development began. Historian Dmitry Volkogonov discovered evidence that Lenin was ready to sell northern Sakhalin to the Japanese in 1923, and the Politburo was going to ask for $1 billion for it. However, the deal did not materialize, and in 1925 a joint declaration in Beijing reaffirmed the provisions of the Portsmouth Treaty.



At the Yalta Conference in 1945, Stalin said that he would like to discuss the political conditions under which the USSR would enter the war against Japan. Roosevelt noted that he believed that there would be no difficulty regarding the transfer to Russia of the southern half of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands at the end of the war.



On August 8, 1945, the USSR fulfilled its obligations and attacked Japan. At the beginning of September, Soviet troops occupied the Kuril Islands, including the occupied island of Shikotan and the Habomai ridge, which both geographically and according to Japanese territorial division did not then belong to the Kuril Islands. In 1946-1947, all Japanese from Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, numbering about 400 thousand, were repatriated. All the Ainu were deported to Hokkaido. At the same time, more than 300 thousand Soviet settlers arrived on Sakhalin and the islands. The memory of the almost 150-year stay of the Japanese in the Southern Kuril Islands was intensively erased, sometimes using barbaric methods. They were blown up in Kunashir Buddhist monuments, standing along the entire coast, many Japanese cemeteries were desecrated.


At the 1951 peace conference in San Francisco, the USSR delegation proposed including in the text of the peace treaty with Japan a clause recognizing the sovereignty of the USSR over southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, however, in the circumstances " cold war“The position of the USA and Great Britain was already different than in 1945, and the USSR’s proposals were not accepted. The final text of the treaty included a provision on Japan’s renunciation of all rights and claims to the Kuril Islands and southern Sakhalin, but it did not say, firstly, in whose favor Japan was renouncing these territories, and secondly, the concept of “Kuril Islands” was not deciphered islands,” which each side naturally understood in its own way. As a result, the USSR did not sign the treaty, but Japan did, which gave it the formal right to immediately raise the issue of returning the South Kuril Islands.


The refusal of the Soviet delegation in San Francisco to sign a peace treaty legally left Russia and Japan in a state of war. In 1956, a joint declaration was signed in Moscow between the USSR and Japan, which contained the agreement of the Soviet Union to return Shikotan Island and the Habomai ridge to Japan immediately after the conclusion of a peace treaty. But in 1960, the USSR government unilaterally refused to implement the clause of the declaration on the return of the islands, citing "


" its rejection of the contents of the new Japan-US security treaty.


Since 1990, Japanese citizens have had the opportunity to visit the burial places of their relatives in the Southern Kuril Islands (the first such visits began back in 1964, but were subsequently discontinued). Many abandoned Japanese cemeteries were restored by Russian residents of the islands.


In 1993, a declaration on Russian-Japanese relations was signed in Tokyo, which sets out the need for an early conclusion of a peace treaty based on resolving the issue of ownership of the Southern Kuril Islands. In 1998, the Moscow Declaration on the establishment of a creative partnership between Russia and Japan was signed...


The strait separating Kunashir from Hokkaido is narrow. On Russian maps it is called the Strait of Treason - in memory of the captivity of Captain Golovnin. Many today believe that this name is unfortunate. But the time for renaming, apparently, has not yet come.


On December 15 of this year the Russian President will visit Japan. Statements by Chairman of the Federation Council Valentina Ivanovna Matvienko and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Viktorovich Lavrov dispelled actively circulating rumors about the possibility of transferring certain islands of the Kuril chain to Japan. However, it is unlikely that the Kuril issue will be completely put aside and agreements on joint economic projects on the Kuril Islands are quite possible. ABOUT natural resources We asked the Kuril Islands to tell the story of a regular author of our magazine, a member of the Expert Council of the Federation Council Committee on the Federal Structure, Regional Policy, Local Government and Northern Affairs Mikhail Zhukov.

Mikhail Andreevich, what are the Kuril Islands rich in?

It is not so much the islands themselves that are rich, but the waters surrounding them. Of particular interest is the vast shallow shelf between the island of Kunashir, which is part of the Greater Kuril ridge, and the islands of the Lesser Kuril ridge, which includes the island of Shikotan and the group of small islands of Habomai, which has total area about 10 sq. km. In water areas - the main interest and interest is not only resource. The water areas are sea routes, and the Kuril chain of islands is a barrier separating the Sea of ​​Okhotsk from the Pacific waters. So there is also a military-strategic interest here. But the military-political aspects are a separate big issue. AND Natural resources Smoking is also a fairly broad topic. So let's focus on that.

Biological resources
The Kuril Islands are one of the richest regions of the World Ocean in marine biological resources (MBRs) and the richest in species diversity and abundance of MBRs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.
The total biomass of commercial ICBMs living in the waters of the Kuril Islands is more than 6.3 million tons with a total allowable catch volume of more than 1 million tons per year, including fish - more than 800 thousand tons, invertebrates - about 280 thousand tons, algae - about 300 thousand tons. Taking into account the two-hundred-mile zone, the biomass of commercial fish is: pollock - 1.9 million tons, cod - 190 thousand tons, herring - 1.5 million tons, saury - 1-1.5 million tons, flounder - 26, 5 thousand tons.
The most numerous stocks are oceanic fish that live in subtropical and tropical waters Japan and Korea and enter the exclusive economic zone of Russia only during the period of maximum warming of the waters - in August - October, and mainly in the region of the Southern Kuril Islands. These are fish whose catch is measured in tens of thousands of tons (fluctuating in different years): tuna, saury, anchovy, mackerel, sardine, pollock, greenling, grenadier, lemonema, and from salmon - pink salmon.
The role in the potential catch of fish such as chum salmon, saffron cod, cod, flounder, smelt, gobies, rudd, brown trout, halibut, perch, sharks, rays, coal is measured in thousands of tons, although in total it can reach 40 thousand tons or more .
Among commercial invertebrates, the leading role (up to 170 thousand tons) in the total potential catch is played by cephalopods, in particular, three types of squid: Commander, Pacific and Bartram.
Crabs, shrimp, bivalves and gastropods, echinoderms in total can provide a total potential catch of about 10 thousand tons, but their reserves are severely undermined due to the fact that they are very valuable and expensive fisheries, having almost unlimited demand in the markets of countries South-East Asia.
The most significant in size are the resources of chlamys scallops of the Northern Kuriles (more than 2.5 thousand tons) and cucumaria of the Southern Kuriles (up to 2 thousand tons). The rest (Kamchatka crabs, snowbird crabs, equal-spined crabs, spiny crabs, hairy crabs, grass shrimp, seaside scallops, Sakhalin spizula, trumpeters, octopuses, sea urchins, sea cucumbers) account for about 4 thousand tons of possible catch.
The algae reserves that can be withdrawn from the islands of the Kuril Ridge are the most significant. Almost 50% of the possible all-Russian production of this resource is concentrated here. The possible catch of algae in wet weight is estimated at 90-100 thousand tons.
There are significant reserves of valuable coastal fishery objects (the clam spizula Sakhalin, octopuses, scallops, whelks, coastal species of perch, halibut), which are gradually being involved in commercial development.
In the total production of ICBMs in the waters of the Kuril Islands, the share of enterprises located directly on the Kuril Islands is currently less than 10%, since, in addition to enterprises based directly on the Kuril Islands, expeditionary fishing fleets of the entire Far East almost constantly operate in this water area.
IN South Kuril fishing zone in 2015, the final catch was 204 thousand tons. Pollock took first place in terms of catch - 85 thousand tons. The second largest catch is behind saury - 66 thousand tons. Chum salmon, mainly of hatchery origin, were abundant and allowed catching 22 thousand tons, but there was practically no return of pink salmon, and the catch was only 1.6 thousand tons. There have been no pink salmon in the Southern Kuril Islands for the second year in a row, despite the fact that only the volume of release of juveniles from hatcheries (about 130 million individuals) allows us to count on the annual catch of several thousand tons of this species. IN last years a significant increase in the catch of Pacific squid: 2-5-12 thousand tons, in 2012–2014, respectively. In 2015, 11.4 thousand tons were produced. Cod production in the area has also stabilized at 4 thousand tons. Terpuga produced 2.3 thousand tons. The catch of other objects: flounder, navaga, cucumaria amounted to 1-0.5 thousand tons. Catch volumes sea ​​urchin have been stable for a number of years and fluctuate around 6 thousand tons. The entry into our waters of such southern species as iwasi sardines and mackerel is increasing, of which almost 300 tons were caught, and a year earlier - only 26 tons.
IN North Kuril fishing zone in 2015, 197 thousand tons of aquatic biological resources were caught: pollock - 101 thousand tons, Commander squid - 27 thousand tons (-50%), northern greenling - 25 thousand tons (-25%). The reasons for the undercatch of greenlings are the decline in the number of the Kuril-Kamchatka population, and the squid - low prices. Macrurus - decrease from 8 thousand to 5 thousand tons. The scallop exceeded 8.4 thousand tons. Cod and flounder were caught in 7 thousand and 4 thousand tons, respectively. The catch of sea bass increased (from 1.7 to 3.0 thousand tons) and half-scaled goby - from 2.3 thousand tons to 3.6 thousand tons. More than 1 thousand tons of saury were produced.
In general, the results of fishing for biological resources in 2015 in both fishing areas were minimal over the past five years. At the same time, the production of almost 600 thousand tons of fish, invertebrates and algae is a serious result.

Metal minerals
Black metals . Deposits and manifestations of ferrous metals are represented by modern brown iron ores and coastal-marine placers of ilmenite-magnetite sands.
Deposits of brown iron ores (limonites) are associated with Quaternary volcanoes. They are formed by the precipitation of iron hydroxides from acidic ferrous sources. The largest manifestations are known in the volcano caldera. Bogdan Khmelnitsky, on the volcano. Palassa, vol. Kuntomintar, smaller ones - on the volcano. Karpinsky, Mendeleev, Berutaruba, Ekarm, Cherny, on the ridge. Vernadsky, near the village. Alekhino and others. The predicted resources of the occurrences are estimated at hundreds of thousands of tons (up to a few million tons) of limonite. All manifestations, such as iron ore, have no industrial significance. Limonites are of some interest as a possible raw material for the production of paints. Their quality in this regard has not been studied. However, most of them were previously developed by the Japanese.

Non-ferrous, rare and precious metals . Copper, lead, zinc. On the Kuril Islands, only two deposits of polymetallic ores are known - Valentinovskoe and Dokuchaevskoe and numerous, insignificant, manifestations and points of mineralization.
The Valentinovskoe deposit is similar in mineral characteristics and genesis to the Kuroko polymetallic deposits, widespread in Japan. It is represented by several steeply dipping ore bodies up to 1.6-4.5 m thick, traced along the strike for hundreds of meters.
The predominant ore minerals are sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite, pyrite, chalcocite and tetrahedrite. They contain cadmium, germanium, indium, gallium, strontium, bismuth, gold, silver and some other elements as impurities. The prospects for the field are high. Predicted resources are estimated at several million tons. Reserves calculated for the main ore body amount to thousands of tons of zinc, copper, lead, with average contents of 13, 4 and 0.5%, respectively.
The Dokuchaevskoe deposit is classified as typically vein and epithermal. It is unlikely to be of industrial significance, since most of it was previously worked out by the Japanese. True, the possibility of discovering new ore bodies on its area that do not reach the surface cannot be ruled out.

Rhenium . The first information about rhenium-bearing mineralization in the ores of the Kuril Islands appeared in 1993, when at high-temperature (≥400 0 C) fumarole sites of the volcano. Kudryavy (Iturup Island) rhenium sulfide, called rhenite, was discovered. Rare metal mineralization is complex in nature and is accompanied by non-ferrous and noble metals: Cu+Zn+Pb+Au+Aq. Rhenium resources in similar, sublimation-type ores were estimated at 2.7 tons. In addition, signs of possible sheet rare metal ores were identified under lava screens and in crater-lacustrine deposits. During development, methods are being developed to capture metals directly from the gas phase.
In subsequent years, it was found that rhenium is widespread in the ores of the Kuril Islands. It is concentrated in Quaternary sublimation and Neogene epithermal ores. Its content in epithermal ores is a few g/t, but it can be extracted as an associated element during the processing of ores from such objects as the Prasolovskoye gold and silver deposit.

Gold and silver . Ore occurrences of gold and silver are widespread on the islands of the Great Kuril ridge. Among them, the most significant and studied (exploration and, partially, prospecting and evaluation stages) are the Prasolovskoye and Udachnoye deposits on the island. Kunashir. The ore bodies of the Prasolovsky deposit are represented by steeply dipping gold-quartz veins with a thickness of 0.1-9.0 m and a length of up to 1350 m. They are usually grouped into several fairly wide (up to 150 m) and extended (up to 3500 m) ore zones cutting across granitoids.
Productive quartz is characterized by collomorphic-banded and collomorphic-breccia textures. Ore minerals (1-5%) are represented by native gold (fineness 780-980), tellurides of gold, silver and non-ferrous metals, as well as various sulfides and sulfosalts. Mineralization is extremely uneven. In the ore bodies there are nests of rich ores (ore pillars) with gold content up to 1180 g/t and silver up to 3100 g/t. The ratio of gold to silver is usually 1: 10 – 1: 50, in ore nests 1: 2. The vertical span of mineralization is at least 200 m. The ores are easy to process. The recovery of gold and silver using the gravity-flotation scheme is 94-95%. The deposit is suitable for underground mining (horizontal mine workings).
The successful deposit is a linear stockwork of gold-adularia-quartz metasomatic rocks (based on dacites) about 100 m long and 8-16 m wide. The gold and silver content in thin mineralized crushing zones reaches 6102 g/t and 2591 g/t, respectively. Open pit mining of the deposit is possible.
Gold-silver ores contain rhenium, arsenic, antimony, tin, tellurium, selenium, molybdenum, mercury, non-ferrous and other metals as impurities, which can be extracted along the way.
In the Prasolovsky and Severyankovsky ore fields, in addition to the deposits described above, about 20 gold-silver occurrences have been identified with very high prospects for identifying industrial accumulations of ores.
In addition, more than 30 promising areas (ore fields) for gold and silver ores have been identified on the islands of the Greater Kuril Ridge. The most promising of them are located on the islands of Shumshu, Paramushir, Urup, Iturup and Kunashir, where the discovery of medium and large gold deposits is predicted.
The total expected gold resources of the Kuril Islands are estimated at 1,900 tons.

Non-metallic fossils
Oil The Mid-Kuril trough, located in the southern part of the Kuril archipelago between the Greater and Lesser Kuriles, with an area of ​​about 14 thousand km 2, is a potentially oil-bearing area. According to the forecast, there are about 386 million tons of equivalent fuel in the oil/gas ratio (36/64%), with an average resource density of 31 thousand tons/km 2 .
The depth of the sea in the Mid-Kuril trough ranges from 20–40 to 200 meters. According to seismic survey data, oil and gas may lie at a depth of 2-3 km under the seabed. The Middle Kuril trough extends from Kunashir and Shikotan to the island of Simushir and has so far been very poorly studied. Hydrocarbon reserves in the Kuril Islands basin are most likely significantly higher than the forecast data, determined so far only for the southern, shallowest part of the Mid-Kuril trough - the water area between Kunashir and Shikotan.
Within the basin, all the necessary elements of the oil and gas bearing system are installed: oil and gas source strata, reservoirs, traps. The thickness of the sedimentary fill of the basin, the conditions of sedimentation, and the geothermal regime allow us to consider the processes of generation, migration and accumulation of hydrocarbons occurring in the depths of the basin not only probable, but also real.
To unconditionally complete the regional stage of studying the Mid-Kuril basin, it is necessary to drill a parametric well. The conducted studies show that the greatest prospects for discovering hydrocarbon deposits should be associated with the Iturup synclinal zone, where the thickness of the sedimentary cover is maximum and the section is least enriched in volcanic material. IN geological structure signs of regional gas content of the Cenozoic sedimentary cover were also discovered on the northern flank of the Mid-Kuril interarc trough.

Thermal energy resources
Currently, two steam-hydrothermal deposits have been explored: Okeanskoye and Goryachiy Plyazh (K-55-II, I-3-1). Coolant reserves in the form of a steam-water mixture and superheated steam are 236 kg/s (118 MW) in the first, and 36.9 kg/s (18 MW) in the second. Moreover, in the latter, with increasing drilling depth, there is the possibility of increasing reserves several times.
In addition to the known deposits, there are a number of high-temperature (about 100 o C or more) thermal manifestations that are promising for identifying industrial reserves of the steam-water mixture: Ebekskoye, Yuryevskoye, Tatarinova, Neskuchenskoye, Yuzhno-Alyokhinskoye, volcano. Golovnina, volcano area Grozny, Tebenkov, Bogdan Khmelnitsky and some others. In addition, promising for heat supply are thermal springs on the islands of Shiashkotan, Ushishir, Simushir, Urup, Iturup (Reidovskie, Goryacheklyuchevskie, Burevestnikovskie, Crab) and Kunashir (Dobry Klyuch, Stolbovye, Tretyakovskie, Alyohinskie) with a water temperature of 50-100 o C.

Thank you very much. I believe that we will return to the Kuril issue based on the results of our visit.

Its results will undoubtedly be not only interesting, but also unexpected. But they will be projected over a significantly larger area. Perhaps even to the Arctic.

Briefly, the history of “belonging” to the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin Island is as follows.

1.During the period 1639-1649. Russian Cossack detachments led by Moskovitinov, Kolobov, Popov explored and began to develop Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. At the same time, Russian pioneers repeatedly sailed to the island of Hokkaido, where they were peacefully greeted by the local Ainu aborigines. The Japanese appeared on this island a century later, after which they exterminated and partially assimilated the Ainu.

2.B 1701 Cossack sergeant Vladimir Atlasov reported to Peter I about the “subordination” of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, leading to the “wonderful kingdom of Nipon,” to the Russian crown.

3.B 1786. By order of Catherine II, a register of Russian possessions was made on Pacific Ocean bringing the register to the attention of everyone European countries as a declaration of Russia's rights to these possessions, including Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.

4.B 1792. By decree of Catherine II, the entire chain of the Kuril Islands (both Northern and Southern), as well as the island of Sakhalin officially included in the Russian Empire.

5. As a result of Russia’s defeat in the Crimean War 1854—1855 gg. under pressure England and France Russia forced was concluded with Japan on February 7, 1855. Treaty of Shimoda, through which four were transmitted to Japan southern islands Kuril ridge: Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup. Sakhalin remained undivided between Russia and Japan. At the same time, however, the right of Russian ships to enter Japanese ports was recognized, and “permanent peace and sincere friendship between Japan and Russia” were proclaimed.

6.May 7, 1875 according to the Treaty of St. Petersburg, the tsarist government as a very strange act of “goodwill” makes incomprehensible further territorial concessions to Japan and transfers to it another 18 small islands of the archipelago. In return, Japan finally recognized Russia's right to all of Sakhalin. It is for this agreement the Japanese refer most of all today, slyly keeping silent, that the first article of this treaty reads: “... and henceforth eternal peace and friendship will be established between Russia and Japan” ( the Japanese themselves violated this treaty several times in the 20th century). Many Russian statesmen of those years sharply condemned this “exchange” agreement as short-sighted and harmful to the future of Russia, comparing it with the same short-sightedness as the sale of Alaska to the United States of America in 1867 for next to nothing ($7 billion 200 million). ), saying that “now we are biting our own elbows.”

7.After the Russo-Japanese War 1904—1905 gg. followed another stage in the humiliation of Russia. By Portsmouth peace treaty concluded on September 5, 1905, Japan received southern part Sakhalin, all the Kuril Islands, and also took away from Russia the lease right to the naval bases of Port Arthur and Dalniy. When did Russian diplomats remind the Japanese that all these provisions contradict the treaty of 1875 g., - those responded arrogantly and impudently : « War crosses out all agreements. You have been defeated and let's proceed from the current situation " Reader, Let us remember this boastful declaration of the invader!

8.Next comes the time to punish the aggressor for his eternal greed and territorial expansion. Signed by Stalin and Roosevelt at the Yalta Conference February 10, 1945 G. " Agreement on the Far East" provided: "... 2-3 months after the surrender of Germany, the Soviet Union will enter the war against Japan subject to the return to the Soviet Union of the southern part of Sakhalin, all the Kuril Islands, as well as the restoration of the lease of Port Arthur and Dalny(these built and equipped by the hands of Russian workers, soldiers and sailors back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. very comfortable in their own way geographical location naval bases were donated free of charge to “brotherly” China. But these bases were so needed by our fleet in the 60-80s of the raging Cold War and the intense combat service of the fleet in remote areas of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. We had to equip the Cam Ranh forward base in Vietnam from scratch for the fleet).

9.B July 1945 in accordance with Potsdam Declaration heads of victorious countries the following verdict was adopted regarding the future of Japan: “The sovereignty of Japan will be limited to four islands: Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku, Honshu and those that WE SPECIFY.” August 14, 1945 The Japanese government has publicly confirmed its acceptance of the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, and September 2 Japan unconditionally surrendered. Article 6 of the Instrument of Surrender states: “...the Japanese government and its successors will honestly implement the terms of the Potsdam Declaration , give such orders and take such actions as the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Powers requires in order to implement this declaration...” January 29, 1946 The Commander-in-Chief, General MacArthur, in his Directive No. 677 DEMANDED: “The Kuril Islands, including Habomai and Shikotan, are excluded from the jurisdiction of Japan.” AND only after that legal action, a Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was issued on February 2, 1946, which read: “ All lands, subsoil and waters of Sakhalin and the Kul Islands are the property of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics " Thus, the Kuril Islands (both Northern and Southern), as well as about. Sakhalin, legally And in accordance with international law were returned to Russia . At this point it would be possible to put an end to the “problem” of the Southern Kuril Islands and stop all further disputes. But the story with the Kuril Islands continues.

10.After the end of the Second World War US occupied Japan and turned it into their military base on Far East. In September 1951 The USA, Great Britain and a number of other states (49 in total) signed Treaty of San Francisco with Japan, prepared in violation of the Potsdam Agreements without the participation of the Soviet Union . Therefore, our government did not join the agreement. However, in Art. 2, Chapter II of this treaty is stated in black and white: “ Japan renounces all rights and claims... to the Kuril Islands and that part of Sakhalin and the adjacent islands , over which Japan acquired sovereignty by the Treaty of Portsmouth of September 5, 1905.” However, even after this, the story with the Kuril Islands does not end.

11.19 October 1956 The government of the Soviet Union, following the principles of friendship with neighboring states, signed with the Japanese government joint declaration, according to which the state of war between the USSR and Japan ended and peace, good neighborliness and friendly relations were restored between them. When signing the Declaration as a gesture of goodwill and nothing more it was promised to transfer to Japan the two southernmost islands of Shikotan and Habomai, but only after the conclusion of a peace treaty between the countries.

12.However The United States imposed a number of military agreements on Japan after 1956, replaced in 1960 by a single “Treaty on Mutual Cooperation and Security”, according to which US troops remained on its territory, and thereby japanese islands turned into a springboard for aggression against the Soviet Union. In connection with this situation, the Soviet government declared to Japan that it was impossible to transfer the promised two islands to it.. And the same statement emphasized that, according to the declaration of October 19, 1956, “peace, good neighborliness and friendly relations” were established between the countries. Therefore, an additional peace treaty may not be required.
Thus, the problem of the South Kuril Islands does not exist . It was decided a long time ago. AND de jure and de facto the islands belong to Russia . In this regard, it might be appropriate remind the Japanese of their arrogant statement in 1905 g., and also indicate that Japan was defeated in World War II and therefore has no rights to any territories, even to her ancestral lands, except those that were given to her by the victors.
AND to our Foreign Ministry just as harshly, or in a softer diplomatic form one should have stated this to the Japanese and put an end to it, PERMANENTLY stopping all negotiations and even conversations on this non-existent problem that degrades the dignity and authority of Russia.
And again the “territorial issue”

However, starting from 1991 city, meetings of the President are held repeatedly Yeltsin and members of the Russian government, diplomats with Japanese government circles, during which The Japanese side every time persistently raises the issue of “northern Japanese territories.”
Thus, in the Tokyo Declaration 1993 g., signed by the President of Russia and the Prime Minister of Japan, was again “the presence of a territorial issue” was recognized, and both sides promised to “make efforts” to resolve it. The question arises: could our diplomats really not know that such declarations should not be signed, because recognition of the existence of a “territorial issue” is contrary to the national interests of Russia (Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “ Treason»)??

As for the peace treaty with Japan, it is de facto and de jure in accordance with the Soviet-Japanese Declaration of October 19, 1956. not really needed. The Japanese do not want to conclude an additional official peace treaty, and there is no need. He more needed in Japan, as the side that was defeated in the Second World War, rather than Russia.

A Russian citizens should know that the “problem” of the Southern Kuril Islands is just a fake , her exaggeration, periodic media hype around her and the litigiousness of the Japanese - there is consequence of Japan's illegal claims in violation of its obligations to strictly comply with its recognized and signed international obligations. And Japan’s constant desire to reconsider the ownership of many territories in the Asia-Pacific region permeates Japanese politics throughout the twentieth century.

Why The Japanese, one might say, have their teeth in the Southern Kuril Islands and are trying to illegally take possession of them again? But because the economic and military-strategic importance of this region is extremely great for Japan, and even more so for Russia. This region of colossal seafood wealth(fish, living creatures, marine animals, vegetation, etc.), deposits of useful, including rare earth minerals, energy sources, mineral raw materials.

For example, January 29 this year. in the Vesti (RTR) program, short information slipped through: it was discovered on the island of Iturup large deposit of the rare earth metal Rhenium(the 75th element in the periodic table, and the only one in the world ).
Scientists allegedly calculated that to develop this deposit it would be enough to invest only 35 thousand dollars, but the profit from the extraction of this metal will allow us to bring all of Russia out of the crisis in 3-4 years . Apparently the Japanese know about this and that is why they are so persistently attacking the Russian government demanding that they give them the islands.

I must say that During the 50 years of ownership of the islands, the Japanese did not build or create anything major on them, except for light temporary buildings. Our border guards had to rebuild barracks and other buildings at outposts. The entire economic “development” of the islands, which the Japanese are shouting about to the whole world today, consisted in the predatory robbery of the islands' wealth . During the Japanese "development" from the islands seal rookeries and sea otter habitats have disappeared . Part of the livestock of these animals our Kuril residents have already restored .

Today economic situation This entire island zone, like all of Russia, is in a difficult situation. Of course, significant measures are needed to support this region and care for Kuril residents. According to calculations by a group of State Duma deputies, it is possible to produce on the islands, as reported in the program “Parliamentary Hour” (RTR) on January 31 of this year, only fish products up to 2000 tons per year, with a net profit of about 3 billion dollars.
Militarily, the ridge of the Northern and Southern Kuriles with Sakhalin constitutes a complete closed infrastructure for the strategic defense of the Far East and Pacific Fleet. They protect the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and turn it into an inland one. This is the area deployment and combat positions of our strategic submarines.

Without the Southern Kuril Islands we will have a hole in this defense. Control over the Kuril Islands ensures free access of the fleet to the ocean - after all, until 1945, our Pacific Fleet, starting in 1905, was practically locked in its bases in Primorye. Detection equipment on the islands provides long-range detection of air and surface enemies and the organization of anti-submarine defense of the approaches to the passages between the islands.

In conclusion, it is worth noting this feature in the relationship between the Russia-Japan-US triangle. It is the United States that confirms the “legality” of the islands’ ownership of Japan , against all odds international treaties signed by them .
If so, then our Ministry of Foreign Affairs has every right, in response to the claims of the Japanese, to invite them to demand the return of Japan to its “ southern territories» - Caroline, Marshall and Mariana Islands.
These archipelagos former colonies of Germany, captured by Japan in 1914. Japanese rule over these islands was sanctioned by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. After the defeat of Japan, all these archipelagos came under US control. So Why shouldn't Japan demand that the United States return the islands to it? Or lack the spirit?
As you can see, there is obvious double standard foreign policy Japan.

And one more fact that clarifies the overall picture of the return of our Far Eastern territories in September 1945 and the military significance of this region. The Kuril operation of the 2nd Far Eastern Front and the Pacific Fleet (August 18 - September 1, 1945) provided for the liberation of all the Kuril Islands and the capture of Hokkaido.

The annexation of this island to Russia would have important operational and strategic significance, since it would ensure complete closure of the “fence” Sea of ​​Okhotsk our island territories: Kuril Islands - Hokkaido - Sakhalin. But Stalin canceled this part of the operation, saying that with the liberation of the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin, we had resolved all our territorial issues in the Far East. A we don't need someone else's land . In addition, the capture of Hokkaido will cost us a lot of blood, unnecessary losses of sailors and paratroopers in the most last days war.

Stalin here showed himself to be a real statesman, caring for the country and its soldiers, and not an invader who coveted foreign territories that were very accessible in that situation for seizure.

Why are the Kuril Islands interesting and is it possible to organize a trip on your own? Who owns the Kuril Islands now: the essence of the Russia-Japan conflict.

The islands of the Sakhalin ridge, bordering Japan, are considered an eastern wonder of nature. We are, of course, talking about the Kuril Islands, whose history is as rich as its nature. To begin with, it is worth saying that the struggle for 56 islands located between Kamchatka and Hokkaido began from the moment of discovery.

Kuril Islands on the map of Russia

Kuril Islands - pages of history

So, at the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century, when Russian navigators mapped hitherto uncharted lands, which turned out to be inhabited, the process of appropriating uninhabited territories began. At that time, the Kuril Islands were inhabited by a people called Ayans. The Russian authorities tried to attract these people into their citizenship by any means, not excluding force. As a result, the Ayans, together with their lands, nevertheless went over to the side of the Russian Empire in exchange for the abolition of taxes.

The situation did not suit the Japanese at all, who had their own plans for these territories. It was not possible to resolve the conflict through diplomatic methods. Eventually, according to a document dated 1855, the territory of the islands is considered undivided. The situation became clear only after the end of World War II, when the amazing territory with a harsh climate was transferred to official ownership.

According to the new world order, the Kuril Islands came into the possession of the Soviet Union, the victorious state. The Japanese, who fought on the side of the Nazis, had no chance.

Who really owns the Kuril Islands?

Despite the results of World War II, which secured the USSR's ownership of the Kuril Islands at the global level, Japan still claims the territory. Until now, a peace treaty has not been signed between the two countries.

What is happening currently - in 2019?

Having changed tactics, Japan is making a compromise and is currently challenging Russia's ownership of only PART of the Kuril Islands. These are Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai group. At first glance, this is a small part of the Kuril Islands, because there are only 56 units in the archipelago! One thing is confusing: Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan are the only Kuril Islands where there is a permanent population (about 18 thousand people). They are located closest to the Japanese “border”.

The Japanese and world media, in turn, are throwing fuel into the furnace of the conflict, exaggerating the topic and convincing ordinary Japanese citizens that the Kuril Islands are vital to them and have been unfairly captured. When, by whom, at what moment - it doesn’t matter. The main thing is to create as many potential sources of conflict around one vast, but slightly unlucky country. What if you get lucky and the case works out somewhere?

Representatives of the Russian Federation, represented by the President and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, remain calm. But they never tire of reminding us once again that we are talking about the territory of Russia, which rightfully belongs to it. Well, in the end, it doesn’t make a claim to Poland for Gdansk and Alsace and Lorraine 😉

Nature of the Kuril Islands

Not only the history of the development of the islands is interesting, but also their nature. In fact, each of the Kuril Islands is a volcano, and a good part of these volcanoes are currently active. It is thanks to their volcanic origin that the nature of the islands is so diverse, and the surrounding landscapes are a paradise for photographers and geologists.

Eruption of the Crimean volcano (Kuril Islands, Russia)

Local residents. Bears of the Kuril Islands.

On the Kuril Islands there are many geothermal springs that form entire lakes with hot water saturated with micro- and macroelements beneficial to health. Lives on the Kuril Islands great amount animals and birds, many of which are found only in these parts. Rich and vegetable world, represented mostly by endemics.

Travel to the Kuril Islands 2019

According to its parameters, the territory of the Kuril Islands is ideal for travel. And even though the climate is harsh, there are almost no sunny days, high humidity and plenty of precipitation - weather deficiencies are covered a hundredfold by the beauty of nature and amazingly clean air. So if you are worried about the weather on the Kuril Islands, then you can survive it.

In 2012, visa-free exchange between the Southern Kuril Islands and Japanwill begin on April 24.

On February 2, 1946, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Kuril Islands Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai were included in the USSR.

On September 8, 1951, at an international conference in San Francisco, a peace treaty was concluded between Japan and the 48 countries participating in the anti-fascist coalition, according to which Japan renounced all rights, legal grounds and claims to the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin. The Soviet delegation did not sign this treaty, citing the fact that it viewed it as a separate agreement between the governments of the United States and Japan. From the point of view of contract law, the question of ownership of the Southern Kuril Islands remained uncertain. The Kuril Islands ceased to be Japanese, but did not become Soviet. Taking advantage of this circumstance, Japan in 1955 presented the USSR with claims to all of the Kuril Islands and the southern part of Sakhalin. As a result of two years of negotiations between the USSR and Japan, the positions of the parties came closer: Japan limited its claims to the islands of Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup.

On October 19, 1956, a Joint Declaration of the USSR and Japan was signed in Moscow on ending the state of war between the two states and restoring diplomatic and consular relations. In it, in particular, the Soviet government agreed to the transfer to Japan after the conclusion of a peace treaty of the islands of Habomai and Shikotan.

After the conclusion of the Japan-US Security Treaty in 1960, the USSR abrogated the obligations assumed by the 1956 declaration. During the Cold War, Moscow did not recognize the existence territorial problem between two countries. The presence of this problem was first recorded in the 1991 Joint Statement, signed following the visit of the USSR President to Tokyo.

In 1993, in Tokyo, the President of Russia and the Prime Minister of Japan signed the Tokyo Declaration on Russian-Japanese relations, which recorded the agreement of the parties to continue negotiations with the aim of speedily concluding a peace treaty by resolving the issue of ownership of the islands mentioned above.

In recent years, in order to create an atmosphere at the negotiations conducive to the search for mutually acceptable solutions, the parties have been paying great attention to establishing practical Russian-Japanese interaction and cooperation in the island area.

In 1992, on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement between residents of the Russian Southern Kuril Islands and Japan. Travel is carried out using a national passport with a special insert, without visas.

In September 1999, the implementation of an agreement began on the most simplified procedure for visits to the islands by their former residents from among Japanese citizens and members of their families.

Cooperation in the fisheries sector is being carried out on the basis of the current Russian-Japanese Fisheries Agreement in the Southern Kuril Islands of February 21, 1998.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

 

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